LAHORE, April 2: Out of 5,400 prisoners on the death row in Pakistan, 4,8230 — or 90 per cent — are rotting in dark and dingy cells in the Punjab alone, many of them for the last 16 years.

The prisoners on the death row also include 28 women and 125 children, says the annual report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for the year 2001.

The figures available with Dawn indicate an abnormal gap between the number of prisoners sentenced to death every year and those actually executed. A total of 591 people were awarded capital punishment last year and just 40 were hanged.

“The rest of them have been left to rot in the prisons (for an unspecified period) with their fate hanging in the balance,” says HRCP director IA Rehman.

He says increasing lawlessness and crime are major factors responsible for the abnormally large number of death sentences awarded by the courts.

“Certain changes in the laws in the past have also contributed to the increase in the number of crimes carrying the death penalty,” he says. “The death penalty should be abolished forthwith. Have the hangings brought down crime?” he asks, adding that the root causes of crime require to be addressed for better results.

The country’s slow judicial process which leads to an increase in the number of cases pending before courts of law is said to be a major cause in delayed decisions on appeals filed by the condemned prisoners.

At present, 26 condemned prisoners are confined in the Punjab jails whose appeals have been rejected by all authorities, the official record says. “Black warrants for their hanging have not been issued so far as they have sought time for reconciliation,” says an official. He says 43 prisoners were hanged in 2000, 33 in 1999, 18 in 1998, 12 in 1997, seven in 1996, eight in 1995, six each in 1993 and 1994 and one each in 1991 and 1992. As is evident, the number of executions has grown over the last 10 years.

The record shows that some 2,000 prisoners are waiting in the Punjab prisons for a decision on their appeals against their sentences pending either before the courts or the president for periods extending up to 16 years in several cases.

Although the Punjab Prison Department is reluctant to give any details on condemned prisoners, independent sources, who have been working for improving jail conditions, claim that scores of such prisoners have completed sentence equal to life imprisonment.

According to a petition, filed with the Supreme Court to raise the issue of those condemned prisoners who have already completed terms equal to life imprisonment, several have actually outlived even life terms without a final decision on their review or mercy petitions.

Five prisoners in the Faislabad jail have spent 11 years each and another 13 years in jail, awaiting a decision on their petitions.

Two others have spent nine years and another 10 years in the Attock Jail.

Eight people, who have served eight to 12-year terms, are said to be in the Multan Jail.

Yet another prisoner in the Jhelum Jail has undergone 16 years of confinement while three others packed with him in the death cell have been there for 13 years.

Some 15 condemned prisoners, confined in the Adiala Jail, have been nine to 14 years in prison.

Quoting from the official record, a source says, about 60 inmates who had completed time in jail equal to life imprisonment have been executed in the Punjab since 1970.

Noted lawyer Abid Hasan Minto says two sentences for one offence are not allowed by law. “Even common sense does not permit it,” he adds.

“Double punishment for one offence is violative of Article 13 of the Constitution.” says Mr Minto. He points out that the Indian Supreme Court had ordered the conversion of a death sentence into life imprisonment if there was no decision on an appeal for two-and-a-half years. “There are provisions in Pakistan’s laws as well to grant bail to a prisoner if his appeal is not heard. It has been changed since.”

Those waiting for a decision on their review appeals also include a 34-year old blind, handicapped prisoner, Aslam Kumhar, in the Sargodha Jail for the last four years. He is awaiting decision on his petition against his sentence on five counts. He was awarded the death penalty in spite of the fact that the relevant international law, to which Pakistan is also a signatory, does not allow executing a handicapped person.

The living conditions in the death cells are simply inhuman. “Most prisoners have lost their mental balance due to the humiliating conditions in which they live and the inhuman treatment meted out to them. A vast majority of these prisoners suffers from such diseases as asthma, TB, etc. There is no provision for treating them,” claims a lawyer who has been visiting jails for quite some time.

“The Jail Manual is not followed at all while dealing with the condemned prisoners,” says the lawyer. The lack of proper food as well as other facilities allowed under the Jail Manuel add to the hardships of the prisoners who are victims of psychological trauma, he says. The prisoners complain that they are allowed by the jail staff to take a walk only once a day in front of their cells. The jail rules allow them to take a walk twice a day.

“The detention of many of these prisoners away from their hometowns makes contact with their families extremely difficult, if not impossible. There is no proper legal assistance available to those who cannot afford a lawyer. Their appeals filed from the jails lack everything required to win a case,” the lawyer says.

Sources in the jail department say two to eight prisoners are put together in one cell of eight by twelve feet, actually meant for one person, without a toilet. In several Punjab prisons, the number of prisoners kept in one cell exceeds 10 in certain cases. In such case, the inmates can neither sleep nor sit. They have to sleep or sit up in turns.

On an average, six prisoners are kept in one death cell in the Punjab jails. But, on the other hand, all death cells are not allotted to the condemned prisoners. In the DG Khan Jail, over half the death cells are not allotted to the condemned prisoners. Each of the remaining cells is shared by at least five people.

The lodging of the juvenile prisoners who have been handed out death penalties with the adults in the same cells is yet another cause of concern voiced by human rights activists. There is no improvement in the situation for the juveniles though the issue has been raised many times at different forums.

Punjab IG Prisons Mohammad Hussain Cheema did not respond to any telephone call made by this reporter or to message left with his staff.

“I need to prepare myself on the issue. I will call you back in a couple of days,” he replied the only time he came on line a couple of weeks ago.